India’s star batter Shubman Gill has come up with a fitting reply to Australia’s captain Pat Cummins in which the latter spoke about using the short ball strategy against the Indian batters in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane.
Shubman Gill fired back at Cummins by claiming that no more than one Indian batter was dismissed by the short ball in Adelaide. The youngster does not see short balls as India’s weakness and feels that India are comfortable against them.
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Pat Cummins on using the short balls in Brisbane
During the press conference ahead of the third Test, Pat Cummins was asked whether Australia would use the short ball strategy just like they did in Adelaide. Cummins didn’t deny it and claimed that they definitely will go towards Plan B if their initial plan does not work out.
“Potentially. (short-pitched bowling) worked out in the Adelaide Test so it’s always in the back of your mind as a Plan B when things get uncomfortable. It worked in Adelaide so I am sure we will give it a shot at some point this Test. For the tailenders, it looked like a wicket was very likely,” said Cummins.
Shubman Gill fires back at Pat Cummins’ “short ball strategy” claim
But Shubman Gill had other ideas and refused to accept that short balls were a problem for India. He claimed that only tailenders were mostly dismissed off the short-pitched deliveries and only one batter was out to a short ball.
“As far as I know, just one batter apart from the tailenders have fallen to short balls in this series. I don’t know what success he is talking about,” Gill said.
Shots fired already? 👀
While @patcummins30 claims Australia have succeeded in their short ball ploy, look what @ShubmanGill has to say about it! 😁😅
1️⃣ DAY TO GO for #AUSvINDOnStar 3rd Test 👉 SAT 14 DEC, 5.20 AM onwards! #ToughestRivalry pic.twitter.com/vS55v5Qgwz
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 13, 2024
On the first session of Day 3 of the Adelaide Test, Pat Cummins used the short ball to great effect to reduce India’s scoring and put further brakes on their possible comeback. The Australian skipper came around the wicket and bowled short balls at awkward heights.
Pat Cummins picks up a brilliant five-wicket haul
Cummins bowled short balls on a consistent basis to trouble Indian tailenders as they kept hopping around. He picked up the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin off a bouncer over leg stump which the batter tried to hook but instead gloved it to the wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
The Australian skipper then bowled a perfect short ball to Harshit Rana which put the batter in no position as he tried to save himself. The ball flew off the shoulder of the bat into Usman Khawaja’s hands at gully.
Pat Cummins also picked up the wicket of Nitish Kumar Reddy who tried to uppercut but found a fielder at deep fine third position. He completed a well-deserved five-wicket haul with this wicket. Cummins finished with 5-57 and announced his return to form after a disappointing performance in the opening Test at Perth.